By Clyde Noel
Last week was a perfect storm of good news. Stocks surged upward after a solid February jobs report, pushing the Dow industrials to its highest level since June 12, 2001.
America’s employers added a sizable 262,000 jobs in February, and the January to March quarter is growing at a rate of around 4 percent. Even the benchmark 10-year note gained 7/32 of a point last Friday to 97 15/32 to yield 4.36 percent, down from 4.38 percent on Thursday.
Stocks started the week on a low note, with investors taking profits off the previous session’s advance and worrying about inflationary signals in manufacturing.
Despite lingering concerns, gasoline is taking the market’s spotlight as summer driving season approaches.
U.S. light crude reached $55.20 per gallon, the highest price since the contract hit a record $55.67 on Oct. 25, 2004. Prices are up more than 18 percent in the last four weeks.
Pump prices could hit record levels over the spring and summer as motorists hit the road for the vacation season, the AAA auto group reported. Retail pump prices are now only about 13 cents below the all-time record set last May, and many believe prices will reach $5 per gallon within a few years.
Tom Kloza, senior analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, agrees that gasoline will hit record highs, but not until later this spring. The rise in prices “may even take Martha (Stewart) off the front page for a while,” he joked.
Two new stock issues were added to the Town Crier index this week. Both companies have executives living in Los Altos or Los Altos Hills.
Cepheid Inc. (CHPD) is a Sunnyvale firm that develops, manufacturers and markets fully integrated systems that perform genetic analysis. The systems are designed to handle a variety of biological samples in a range of environments.
Product sales for the quarter ending Dec. 31 increased 299 percent to approximately $19.4 million from $4.9 million the previous year.
Extreme Networks (EXTR), a Santa Clara firm, is a provider of network infrastructure equipment for corporate government, education and health care enterprises and telecommunications service providers. The company’s principal hardware and software products are the Summit Stackable Product Family.
For the six months ending Dec. 26, 2004, net revenues increased 14 percent to 195.4 million. Net income totaled $14.1million versus a loss of $3 million.
A short comment now that Martha Stewart is free from prison and roaming about in her mansion. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) stock sank well below $10 a share after her legal troubles began but rallied after Stewart went to prison to $38.
The stock, currently trading at $31, has a big downside and little upside, so I would say goodbye to Martha. MSO has lost money the last two years, including the last quarter. We should have bought it before she went to prison.
